John R. Hacking

Architect; JHKM employee

Architect John Richard Hacking (1883–1911) was born in
Renton, Dunbartonshire. He was the second child of
Yorkshire-born schoolteacher William E. Hacking, and Prudence
McWilliam from Glasgow; his brother founded the major Glasgow
property agents, Hacking & Paterson. 1

In the 1901 census, Hacking was an 'architectural apprentice' (to whom is unspecified), and his younger brother, William Junior, was following the family profession as a property factor's
clerk. 2 Hacking enrolled at the Glasgow School of Art in 1902,
giving his designation as 'architect'. One of his few recorded
architectural projects was to design a pantry and lavatory for
his home, Invergair, in Helensburgh, in 1904. 3

Between March 1905 and July 1908, Hacking worked in the office of
Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh, and he may have met his future business partner
Francis (Frank) G. G. Robertson (1881–1954) around this
time. Hacking was also 'well known in Glasgow musical circles
as the treasurer of the Bach choir', and possibly made further
professional contacts in this way. 4 In 1910, he and Robertson (formerly with
Campbell & Hislop) established the architectural practice
of 'Francis Robertson & Hacking' at 144 St Vincent Street.
Their sole project seems to have been 'Croftmhor Lodge', in
Skelmorlie, in 1910–11. 5 Hacking joined the Glasgow
Institute of Architects as an associate c. 1910, and Robertson
followed suit as a student member, becoming an associate
himself c. 1911. 6 In 1911,
'Mr Hacking in conjunction with Mr A. Graham Henderson,
another Glasgow architect, was awarded ... a 100 guinea
premium for competitive designs for Manchester Library and Art
Gallery'. Hacking died in a nursing home in Blythswood Square,
Glasgow in July 1911. 7 Hacking's
inventory reveals that his share of 'Francis Robertson &
Hacking', as junior partner, was £47 16s 6d. Francis
Robertson continued the practice alone. 8

'Mackintosh Architecture' led by The Hunterian, University of Glasgow, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council; with additional support from The Monument Trust, The Pilgrim Trust, and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art; and collaborative input from Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.